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Chloe Lee, an 11th grader at the National Cathedral School, earned first place in the James Bland Music Competition at the Lyceum on Feb. 23.

Lee, who has played the viola for about two years, performed William Walton’s Viola Concerto. The host Lions Club and the Lions of Virginia Bland Foundation presented the competition’s awards.

Satchit Mainali, an 11th grader at Thomas Jefferson High School, placed second after performing Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso,” Op. 28. Thomas Jefferson senior Colleen Duggar Munoz took third place with Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor.

“It takes a lot of courage and a lot of work to get to this point, to come here and play in front of a live audience,” judge Osman Kivrak said.

The other judges were Ronal Butler, a former board chair of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and Teri Lazar, a violinist with the National Gallery of Art String Quartet.

Traditionally held during Black History Month, the competition honors African American musician and composer James Bland. His works included “Oh Dem Golden Slippers” and “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny,” which served as Virginia’s state song from 1940 to 1997.

The Bland Foundation has offered performance opportunities and scholarships to talented young vocalists and instrumentalists under Lions sponsorship since 1948. Its program is open to eligible elementary, junior high and high school students who live in Virginia or within a participating Lions Club’s jurisdiction.

The State Bland Committee distributes more than $25,000 each year through state, regional, district and local scholarships and cash awards.

Local sponsors included the Concerned Citizens Network of Alexandria, the Foundation for the Advancement of Music Education, State Farm agent Rodney M. Louis, the Page 1 Foundation and Greene Funeral Home.

“I can feel a sense of community in this competition which I don’t really find in other competitions,” Lee said. “I am really grateful to be able to compete here.”